Robert Louis Stevenson said, "Everyone lives by selling something." Yet, most people don’t understand the sales process and their part within it. Business owners constantly worry about the selling function and how it affects their ability to manage the firm’s cash flow.
"It's sad that something as important to the economy as sales shows up as a footnote in the principles of marketing course at most graduate business schools," says Andy Zoltners, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
"Many people view selling as tactical and haven't taken the broader view that you will need sales skills even if you aren't managing a sales force," says David Godes, an associate professor at Harvard. "If you're going into consulting or banking, how do you get clients and how do you raise money?"
"Even if the students choose not to go into selling, they need multifunctional expertise to get into general management," says Doug Raftery, Procter & Gamble's vice president of consumer business development. "They will also gain a better sense of how to sell their ideas inside their own company."
Prepared Buyer & Seller |
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Click on any of the above pictures to view what works in a sales interaction (and what doesn't) in five minute video clips.
What is Your Competitive Advantage?
Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, once said, "If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete." The continuous question every CEO asks is: How can our company continue to differentiate itself from our competition?
If your people don't know how what your competitive advantage is, how to approach prospective customers, how to pass the A.C.I.D. test, there is a good chance your corporate revenue will continue to decrease in the future.